


Reverse Confetti Poisoning

by Tricksterburd



Category: Steam Powered Giraffe
Genre: Angst, Robots, Turning human, Vomiting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-16
Updated: 2012-10-18
Packaged: 2017-11-16 10:23:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,277
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/538447
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tricksterburd/pseuds/Tricksterburd
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Perhaps it had been the samples of confetti, glitter, streamers, sequins, and sprinkles.  All they knew was that one day he could taste the inside of his mouth.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. I can taste it.

**Author's Note:**

> I don’t own SPG. Inspired by Twig's post and people requesting a fanfic here: http://steampoweredcupcake.tumblr.com/post/33677557823/packratimp-twigwise-okay-you-guys-are-gonna Also, thank you to the people of the writing pad!

No one was sure where it had started.  It could have been something in the water that got into his boiler that got into his system.  It could have been a reaction to the samples of green, blue, red, and purple matter that resided in the workshop.  Perhaps it had been the samples of confetti, glitter, streamers, sequins, and sprinkles.  Though, how Rabbit got into any of them no one had a clue.  _If_ he got into them.  

All they knew was that one day he could taste the inside of his mouth.

He had been at the table with the rest of the family; Sam was cooking while Peter, Peter, Wanda, Norman, Steve, Michael, Jon, Spine, and HatchWorth lounged around the table, the 'bots sipping water (or soda) and the humans waiting for dinner.  When Rabbit cut his story off in the middle of a sentence.  

His face grew very concerned, almost worried, as he seemed to be chewing on something.  The table watched on, mildly confused.  

"I have a tongue."

"You what Rabbit?"

"I have a tongue.  I can taste th'inside of my mouth just now."

"You do not have a tongue Rabbit, you have a flame thrower."

"I know dat Da Spine!  But...."  And then he stuck it out of his mouth.  A perfectly pink, _human_ , tongue.  No one had anything to say after that.

It disappeared, about an hour later.  

\----------------

The event would have been forgotten, chalked up as "Something weird that happens around The Jon anyway" had it not for, two weeks later, Rabbit waking up to find his hands had skin on them.

His scream was heard from town.

"MICHAEL!"  The copper robot ran through the manor as best he could, hands held as far away from him as he could manage as he found the Purple Matter engineer.  

"WHAT IS THIS?!"  

"Clam down Rabbit let me see."  Michael rolled over on his bed, pulling at the covers to untangle himself.  "It can't be that HOLY SHEEP!"

"I will not calm down."

"RABBIT YOUR HANDS!"

"Told you.  How do I fi-fi-fix this?"

"RABBIT YOUR HANDS ARE PEOPLE HANDS!"

"Oh so now I'm nnnnnnnnnnnot people normally huh?"

"HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?!"

"Michael calm down."

\------------

This, too, passed a few hours later.  It was not, however, forgotten.  And it was not ignored.  Michael and Steve spent the next three weeks digging around Rabbit's internals trying to find out what was going on.  They had to stop when, while Michael was elbow deep in Rabbit's chest, the robot grabbed his shoulder with a shudder.

"Michael stop."

"What's up Rabbit?  Need some water?"

"Get your hand out.  Now!"

"Calm down Rabbit you're fine.  I just need to-"

"NOW!"

"Okay okay!"

Michael stepped back as Rabbit slammed his door shut, staggering off the table to the corner.  There his knees gave out, and he retched onto the floor.  That, in itself was surprising.  Robots didn't have anything TO vomit, let alone the _ability_ to do so.  Steve knelt by the automaton, gripping his shoulder tightly.

"Rabbit what's going on?"

"IdunnoIdunnoIdunno."  

The robot was close to tears as something angry coiled in his chest.  

"Okay Rabbit it's okay."  Steve examined the puddle of oil and water.  That must be it, a leak.  His boiler was leaking into his oil reserves.  Sure, that would be bad.  

"Steve?"  Rabbit's voice was tiny.  

"Hmm?"

"There's something in my chest."

"How what?"

"There's something _in **my chest**_."  There was, indeed, something in his chest.  He could feel it moving.  It was something that didn't belong there, not in the slightest.  Steve pressed his ear to the 'bot's back to give a listen.  Michael watched on.

"Steve what is it?"  The sound engineer's face was white as paper.  Steve pulled Rabbit back to the table, flinging open his chest once more.  Both humans stared, unable to make heads or tails of what they were seeing.

"What is is is is it?"

"Rabbit.  You have a **_heart_**."  


	2. Keep Going.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rabbit didn't leave the workshop anymore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own SPG. Only one more chapter to go!

The oddities did not stop.  For five hours Rabbit sat in the workshop, unable to move.  Without a piston to turn his gears he had no way of actually doing anything besides sit and steam up the place.  But Steve and Michael had called down Sam, Peter, Peter, and Spine to try and figure out what to do.

"Well, he's not _dead_."  

"That's not helping Sam."

"How is that not helping?!  He has a human heart, and isn't dead.  That's a good thing, and a place to start."

"Well, yes.  But no.  We know he's not dead, but not why."

"Exactly!  Now we know where to work from."  

"That's great Sam but I don't work on people.  I work on automatons.  And this isn't automatonic, this is human."

"So get a doctor?"

"And they'll do what?  'Yep, that's a human heart alright!  That'll be an arm and a leg in payment please.' No Sam, they can't help us."

"Alright Steve I get it.  So what are we going to do just sit here?"

"I can't think of anything."

"Peter.  Not you Five sorry.  Six, have you seen any of this in the Craft Elements maybe?"

"I've only worked on living creatures.  Not robots.  I haven't tested it with automatonic life.  But this shouldn't be a reaction.  Glitter, Confetti, Streamers, they turn things into _robots_.  Not _out_ of robots."

"So what would put human things in a robot?"

"Uh, g-g-g-g-guys?"

The room, having somehow migrated to the back corner while talking, turned back to the robot on the table.  His chest was still open, unable to move to close it.

"Is dere a way we can move to do sumthin' about-"

Rabbit was unceremoniously cut off by a hacking cough.  Which, again, should not have been something a robot would be able to do.  Michael and Peter the sixth quickly forgot the group in the corner and were instantly interested in the robotic anomaly.  

"Hey look his bellows are changing!"

"Are they becoming lungs?  Oh this is fascinating"

"How are they going to fit exactly Rabbit's chest isn't very large."

"I'm g-g-g-glad y'all are findin' this fun.  Bbbbbut it kinda hurts."  Rabbit wheezed between coughs, oil slicking down his chin.  

"Oh right!  Um.  What do we do?"

"I was kinda hopin' you'd know."

"Wow that's really cool.  Look how pink they are!"

"Michael pay attention."

\----------------------

Rabbit didn't leave the workshop anymore.  

The Jon snuggled with The Spine in front of one of the many fireplaces around the manor, not really seeing the flames in the hearth.  He wasn't allowed to see Rabbit down in the workshop.  No one would tell him what was going on with his oldest brother anymore, and no one would allow him to even ask questions about him.  It was very depressing really.  It was so quiet around the house without Rabbit to run around with.  

Spine flat out refused to go near the place.  Steve had actually pulled him aside about a week after Rabbit had grown a heart to confront him about his avoidance.  

"He could really use someone besides Peter, Mike, Sam, and myself you know.  We're trying to keep him calm, so Jon's a bad idea.  But he could really really use one of his brothers right about now."

"No."

"Excuse me?"

"No.  Rabbit has what I want.  I want to be human.  Why does he get it?  He doesn't want to be human!  He's getting what I want, and he's fighting it every turn.  I don't want to talk to him right now."

"But-"

Spine had turned and walked off, not letting Steve finish.  He was not dealing with Rabbit right now.  The older automaton could just let the changes happen, and be human, and be happy.  But no, he was fighting it and that hurt Spine the most.  Who would fight being human?!  Why wouldn't Rabbit want to be a human?  Did he want to be a glitching hunk of trash forever?  Clearly he did.  

"Spine?"  Jon pulled Spine out of his dark thoughts, back into the now.  "Is this my fault?"

"Is what your fault The Jon?"

"Rabbit."

The Spine thought for a moment.  It would make sense, Jon's core and void made strange things happen all the time.  But never for this long, never this centralized, and never so drastically.  

"No The Jon.  This isn't your fault."

"Oh."

The room was quiet again.  Spine shifted to put another log on the fire.

"I really miss him."  Jon sounded close to tears.  Spine couldn't look at him.  Couldn't face how much Jon still cared for Rabbit despite what the robot was doing.  If he saw Jon cry he'd probably snap at the younger robot.  Jon didn't deserve Spine's anger.  That was for a different robot entirely.  

"Me too Jon.  Me too."


	3. Breathe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Spine let Rabbit catch his breath as he allowed that to sink in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own SPG.
> 
> WARNING! Extreme angst and tragedy ahead! Vomiting, blood, gore, human organs, self hate, extreme descriptions of pain, and character death. Thank you.

The Jon was tired of people telling him to stay away. It had been almost two months since this... this _thing_ with Rabbit started, and he wanted to know why his brother was locked up and hiding away for the last four weeks.  

Four weeks ago Spine had left the workshop to a nervous Jon and HatchWorth waiting outside the door.  

"He's turning human."  Was all he said before storming away.  Sam came out a moment later to two robots that were pretty much freaking out and trying to open a door.  In their panic they were unable to do anything.  

"He'll be okay guys.  We're figuring it out, don't worry about it.  But uh, for now, let's just leave him with the others okay?  He's a bit of a nervous wreck.  Just um.  Just give him some time okay?"

Two weeks ago HatchWorth overheard Spine and Steve fighting over Rabbit, and reported it to Jon.  

Now, now Jon was sick and tired of being kept in the dark.  So in the middle of the night, he crept down the many winding halls of Walter Manor, and made his way to one of the few doors in the place.  The Workshop.

The Workshop was just a normal old workshop, nothing really special about it.  But after Rabbit's core had been stolen in 1950, the family saw it fit to install a door.  That way, people could be kept out and away from the dangerous samples housed inside.

It took Jon five minutes to screw up his courage and open the door.  No one should be in there.  By his count, Michael had finally gone to sleep an hour ago, Steve was in the Hall of Wires to yell at Spine again, and Sam should be making his nightly sandwich.  So down the steps he went, into the workshop's main floor.  

He didn't expect to see Sam still there.  On the metal table was, in fact, Sam.  He was sitting cross legged, with someone's head in his lap.  It took Jon a moment to realize that this was Rabbit.

Rabbit's entire torso was composed of flesh now.  The back of his head, his neck, his left arm, his right hand, his right leg, his left foot... all skin and bone of a human.  His face, his right arm, his left hand, his left leg, his right foot, two fingers and the thumb of his right hand were still robotic.  He had on an old pair of Michael’s shorts, and one of Peter’s watches.  But that was about it.  His blue matter core still shone brightly in his chest, lighting Sam’s face. 

Sam was talking to him, calmly, too low for Jon to hear.  He was cradling Rabbit’s head in his lap, running soothing thumbs over a skin and metal forehead as he spoke.  The robot almost turned tail, almost ran from the creature his oldest brother had become until blue and green lights met his gaze.

"Th'Jon?"  

Sam looked up in surprise.  Jon froze.  Rabbit smiled.

"'SokayTh'Jon.  Cam'ere."  Jon nodded and unstuck his feet from the floor, timidly standing at the metal table's side.  Rabbit's left hand shook as it reached for the brass robot.  The Jon took his hand for a moment, before climbing onto the table itself and snuggling against Rabbit's chest.  Sam decided it was time for his nightly sandwich.  

"When you gonna be back Rabbit?" 

"Idunno.  Soon I hope.  I kinda don' like it down here."  

Jon nodded, pressing tighter to Rabbit.  He had really missed his older brother these last few weeks.  He listened to the quiet, noting that there WAS quiet around Rabbit at the moment.

"You don't tick anymore."

"No.  I don't t-tttt-t-tick anymo'."

"You thump now."  Rabbit chuckled.  

"I thump now huh?"

"Uh-huh."

"Well, dat's new."

"Uh-huh.  It's kind of a blue color now.  I miss the brown and orange."

"Blue huh?  I thought ya liked blue."

"No I like red now. But blue's nice on you."

"I see."

"Wabbs?"

"Hmm?"

"There's a new color now.  But it's an old color."

"Wadda mean?"

"You're normally brown and orange and red and a bit of green.  But right now you're blue and purple and pink.  But there's some green starting to bleed through again."

"Green huh?  Wat's gggggreen normally?"

"Your boiler."

Rabbit became very tense next to Jon.  Jon looked up at the change, seeing oily tears start in Rabbit's eyes.

"Wabbs?"

"Jon.  Get.  Get Sam please?"

Jon scrambled to find Sam in the kitchen.  Rabbit was thankful for the warning.  He didn't want his little brother to see what happened when a stomach became a boiler and back again.  

\-----------

Spine grumbled at his book.  Everyone was paying so much attention to Rabbit; they hadn’t gotten any work done on their latest musical ideas, they hadn’t worked on HatchWorth’s new jacket, they hadn’t booked shows, they hadn’t preformed… everyone had been worried about Rabbit.

If the stubborn ‘bot would just let the change happen and get on with his life instead of fighting everything they’d be over this by now.

Spine had read the same line five times now.  He just couldn’t concentrate on the words that were there, real, in front of him.  Giving up he marked his page and snapped the book shut, leaning back in the armchair.  Steve had been trying to speak to him every day for a while now.  So Spine had taken to avoiding the H.o.W. when he could.  The last thing he wanted was to be berated for ignoring the copper robot.  He didn’t want to think on him right now.  He wanted something else to think on for a while, but nothing came.  Well, other than the sound of a very pained scream from right down the hall.

“Rabbit.  Can’t even stay in the Workshop now you have to invade the air too huh?”  Spine shoved himself from his seat, mind set.  He was going to talk to Rabbit, knock some sense into him, and let the whole mess be solved.  He was done hiding and ignoring and hating.  Just done.  This had gone on long enough.

Spine threw open the door, slamming it closed behind him as he trudged down the stairs.  Why did Rabbit have to ruin everything?!  Always had to have the final say, always had to have his way, and always had to do his songs.  Spine opened his mouth to give Rabbit an ear full…

And it snapped shut with an audible click.  Rabbit was curled up on the floor next to the table, Sobbing and clawing at the floor with his mismatched hands.  There was oil on the table, and oil on the ground in a large puddle by Rabbit’s head.

Spine hadn’t seen how far Rabbit had progressed.  And in the minutes since Jon had fled, more had changed.  Rabbit’s top left face was human now, a real blue human eye shining fever bright in the dark.  The bottom right of his face, his mouth, his nose… all human.  It was as though someone had slashed him across the face with a paintbrush and smeared a layer of skin thick enough to hide a glowing eye and steaming cheek vent. 

“Sssssssssssssssss-s-sSpine?”  The shaking voice pulled Spine from his horror.  The human and robot eyes of Rabbit were begging him for help.  If Rabbit had more to say, Spine never heard it.  Rabbit’s body revolted against him, twitching painfully before he doubled up and retched into the puddle below him once more.   Oil.  He was vomiting oil mixed with water and…

Spine wasn’t sure when his feet had moved, but he was kneeling by Rabbit now, strong hands catching the robot man just as his shoulders gave out.  Spine pulled the older creature into his lap, keeping him close as spasms wracked the changing body with disgustingly loud crunches and squishes.  After an eternity Rabbit stilled in the silver arms, laying his head heavily against Spine’s chest.

“Ow.”

“Rabbit?  What… what was that?”

“My b-b-bboiler.  My boiler and oil resresreservoir cccccccccccccchanged into a stomach.  Now they changed back to robot, and back to human again.”

“What.  How?!  Are you doing this on purpose?”

Rabbit gave a humorless chuckle before gasping in pain as he grasped The Spine’s vest.

“Oh shore shore Spine.  I’m doin’ this ‘cause it’s _fun_.”

“Why do you keep fighting it Rabbit?  Just let the human take over and it’ll be done!”

“I wish it would be done.  I’m not doin’ nufin’ Spine.  I’d take human OR robot right ‘bout now.”

“Then…?”

“’Sthe blue matta’ Pete thinks.  Whateva’s doin’ this don’t agree wif da blue matta’.” 

Spine let Rabbit catch his breath as he allowed that to sink in.  He had avoided Steve these last weeks.  Now he wished he hadn’t.  If he had known this, maybe… maybe he could have helped Rabbit somehow?  His blue matter core was keeping him a robot.  That wasn’t Rabbit’s doing.  And here Spine had been punishing Rabbit for it.  Spine shut his eyes.  Selfish stupid rude pigheaded…

“SSssssssssssssPSPINE!”  His attention snapped back to his brother.  Who was clawing at his chest, metal fingers leaving deep red scratches as he coughed a mixture of black and clear and red.  Red.  That had been blood Spine had seen, real life human blood mixed with oil and water.  Now Rabbit was coughing, hacking it up onto Spine’s neck as a body he could no longer control and no longer recognized fought with itself, taking him along for the ride.

“I can’- I can’t _breathe_.”  Rabbit had talked about his boiler and oil tank being turned into human organs, then back to robot, then back to human.  Now he couldn’t breathe.  Spine remembered being there when his bellows had become lungs.  Was that… was that happening now?  Here, now, in his arms?! 

The Spine cradled Rabbit tighter to his chest, pressing his cheek plates against his brother’s forehead.  What was he supposed to do?  How was he supposed to do it?  A human body needed air; bellows didn’t work like lungs did.  Oh goodness what would happen if they never changed back?!  Was this what Rabbit had been going through all this time?

The constant changes, the incredible pain, the sudden inability to function on the most basic level without even the chance to make it stop?  This was what turning human was doing to him?  The Spine felt sick.  He had wanted this.  He had wanted what Rabbit was going through, had wished ill on the copper robot because he had wanted the chance to be human.  And this was what Rabbit was going through.  Without his brothers to help him. 

The humans, Spine was sure, had been doing a fine job.  But they had only been in the robot’s lives a short while.  Rabbit had been there all of Spine’s life.  All of Jon’s life.  And they hadn’t been there for him during this horrific experience.  Spine wanted nothing more than to tear himself apart, give Rabbit back his sanity and his life, and stop this nightmare.  But he couldn’t.  He couldn’t.

Rabbit gaped like a fish out of water against him.  Weak fingers of flesh and metal grabbed at the satin vest, only to quickly slide off it.  He found Spine’s face again, watching through the headache-inducing mix of camera and human eyes, one in color one in shades of grey.  Spine was crying.  So was Rabbit.  Tears of water and oil slid down the mutilated face as the green light of Rabbit’s eye dimmed and his blue human eye glazed over, giving in further and further to the lack of oxygen. 

“Rabbit come on, fight it.  You can do this.  Hold on Rabbit just… hold on.  They’ll change back and you’ll be okay.  Stay with me Rabbit come on.”  Rabbit wasn’t listening.  Not to Spine’s words.  He put his good ear against the strong metal chest, letting the smoothly whining gears and the hum of the blue core calm him.  It hurt.  It hurt so damn much.  But Spine sounded good, sounded normal.  Not clockwork, no, that’s what the watch was for.  But he sounded like a robot.  Sounded like home.  Sounded like family. 

POP!

Rabbit sucked in a deep gulp of air, jerking violently as his lungs returned and allowed him the gift of breathing once more.   He coughed, spraying more blood and oil onto Spine’s neck as he kept pulling in more and more frantic breaths. 

Spine let a sigh of steam go.  Rabbit was okay, he’d be okay.  He didn’t care anymore.  He didn’t care if he was human, if he was robot, if his brothers were humans or automatons.  He didn’t care that this suit would have to be trashed.  He didn’t care if he never saw the light of day again.  So long as Rabbit stayed with him.  How could he have ever hated his brother?

“spine?”  Rabbit’s voice was quiet; The Spine almost didn’t catch it. 

“Yeah Rabbit?”

“’msorry.”

“Don’t be sorry.  Don’t ever be sorry.  None of this is your fault okay?”

“k.”

And that’s when Spine saw it.  The core in Rabbit’s chest was flickering.  The only soul the robots had, their whole lives and existences.  The blue glass ball in their chest that kept them going.  It was flickering, its light growing dull.  Pale human skin was growing, creeping over it, starting to cover it.

No.

No!

“Steve!  Michael!  Sam!  Somebody, anybody!”  The Spine called over both Wi-Fi and as loud as his voice box would get.  He was not going to let this happen. 

Rabbit pressed his half metal-half skin face into the warm chest that supported him, green optic dim and glitching in and out.   Spine stroked his head, kissing it softly, trying to keep every last shred of Rabbit with him.

“Come on Rabbit, don’t you give up on me now.  Fight this off okay?  You can’t leave Jon and HatchWorth and I now can you?  Who’s going to get us our space burritos huh?”

“Pappy says hi, Spine.” 

“What.  No, Rabbit!  Rabbit wake up!”

Steve was the first to find them.  Spine was cradling the half human half automaton creation his brother had become, rocking it softly like a mother would a fussy infant.  He was singing softly.

Steve knelt beside them, taking in the missing blue matter core.  The dark optic.  The relaxed muscles.  Michael, Sam, Jon, and HatchWorth rounded the stairwell just as Steve reached around Spine’s arm, and closed the mixed eyes. 

\----------------

They buried him besides Peter Walter the first.  The humans that had died all lay to the right of the Colonel’s grave.  Now Rabbit would lay to its left.  He’d be by his father now, just as he had been when the human had been alive.

“Here Lies Rabbit Walter.  Built 1896.”  They didn’t know what else to put on the marker.  So they carved a pair of goggles, a melodica, and a duck. 

“I. I uh.”  Sam was having a hard time getting the words out.  “I brought in a doctor.  You know, to find out what happened.  They found, um.  They found some Glitter, and some Confetti.  Mixed, oddly enough.  Not the kind of stuff we have in the manor though.  Looks like someone had mixed the two with Fluff; you know the thing that’s supposed to be a sort of cure for these things in humans?  They said it was in his blood, though they have no idea how it got there.  Being a robot and all.”

No one said anything.  Even the ducks in the pond a few feet away were quiet today. 

“They don’t know if that’s what did it.  Might have been.  Might not have been.  I told them we didn’t care to find out the answer.”

Spine nodded.  Rabbit was gone, knowing wouldn’t bring him back.  Let them do their sick tests, sate their morbid curiosity.  But let the dead rest. 

One by one, the humans returned to the house, eventually leaving the robotic brothers at the grave side. 

“I’m gonna miss him.”  Jon whispered, tracing the duck that had been carved into the stone, thumbing the rabbit’s foot on his suspenders. 

“Me too.”  HatchWorth played with Rabbit’s hat, his own bowler stowed safely away in the house, where it would stay. 

“We should go inside.”  Spine’s voice didn’t carry very far, almost as though it had lost the power it once held behind it.  “It’ll rain soon.  Pappy’ll watch over him.  He’ll be okay.” 

Spine adjusted the goggles around his neck, fighting to keep what composure he had.  They had a life to live, a show to perform in a few days, an audience to please.  Rabbit would have wanted it that way.  So the silver robot gently guided his counter parts inside, letting go a sigh of steam.  He was, after all, the older brother now.    


End file.
